Owning the Earth - The Transforming History of Land Ownership (Andro Linklater, 2013)

In the end I didn't find this very useful.  The author simply is trying to do too much - there's no way he can be expert about all of the subjects covered.  Also suspect because he is pretty open about his policy orientation - while I of course prefer openness, in this case it supports the impression that the author is applying policy preferences as gap-fillers as he comments on just about everything under the sun.

The author tells us that the genesis of the book is his effort to explain the financial "crisis" circa 2008 - as he looked for explanations he kept coming back to the importance of land ownership - then the arc of the book changed and he indicates that he wrote a different book than intended.

It's certainly not startling to assert that land ownership policies are important.  He tries to address the topic across the globe and across the centuries, inevitably supplemented by observations about social and political systems - to repeat, there's just no way he can be sufficiently knowledgeable to knit all these pieces together.

So I read pretty closely for a hundred pages or so - and there are plenty of interesting ideas floating around.  Government policy matters immensely, but it needs to take into account local history, etc.  Nothing startling here.

Reminded me of Dierdre McCloskey in describing why there was nothing inevitable about the economic progress of northern Europe (including England), though he comes from a different ideological perspective.  China, Middle East - examples of areas more advanced than Europe, but failed to advance.

Seems to adopt the standard narrative on lots of issues . . .  The Road to Serfdom tellingly described as a "savage hymn"; also throws in some standard-issue CEO bashing (not sure how it fit the story line, but then again he did start from 2008 perspective - of course with no mention that government policy might have had a role).  The selfishness and greed memes become tiresome.

Interesting discussion comparing serfs (eastern Europe) and peasants (western Europe) with analogous discussions regarding other geographies.  I'd like to come back to this part of the discussion.

History of the Conquest of Peru (William H. Prescott, 1847)

Much enjoyed Prescott's write-up of the conquest of Mexico; had forgotten to follow up on this second key work until recent NOC-POC Peru trip led to discussions.  I'd prefer the Mexico book over the Peru book if pressed - but both are quite delightful.  The only downside on the Peru book is that so much of the story line is devoted to infighting among the Spanish conquerors - including several of the quite vigorous Pizarro brothers.

My favorite part of the book was the descriptions of the Inca empire prior to arrival of the Spaniards - if accurate, these folks were ridiculously well organized.  Roads, food system, religious, etc.  Yet they never figured out the wheel; very primitive writing.  As discussed in this book, and also here - Peru such a unique environment - so many micro-climates at such a low latitude - they could grow pretty much anything.

Pizarro benefited from lucky timing - arriving during a period of heightened imperial infighting - similar to Cortez in this respect.

But the courage, or madness, of the tiny group of adventurers is simply breathtaking.  Also borrowed from Cortez:  the bold abduction of the emperor.  The room full of gold.

How quickly the system fell apart once the emperor was taken; how quickly and permanently the changes wrought via the Spaniards reduced the country.

And how little long-term benefit to Spain - the ongoing myth that it was enriched - visible to Prescott - ". . . the wealth thus suddenly acquired, by diverting them from the slow but surer and more permanent sources of national prosperity, has in the end glided from their grasp, and left them among the poorest of the nations of Christendom."  Exploiting colonies wasn't a great strategy except for a handful of insiders, as discussed here.

Rampant inflation.

Charles V needing cash for wars - influx of precious metals helped in short run.

A younger Pizarro brother makes an incredible journey into the Amazon.

Definitely stranger than fiction.

Lina & Serge - The Love & Wars of Lina Prokofiev (Simon Morrison, 2013)

A very interesting and personal (due to access to family correspondence) look at what happened to Lina Prokofiev - and also of great interest from a general-historical perspective as her experiences unfold across the big events of the 20th century, with a focus on Russia.

(Also the story is made more interesting to us as we learn more about, and increasingly like, Prokofiev's music; for example Alexander Nevsky (performed with MusicFest in 2013), plus his second piano concerto performed with Phoenix Symphony by the 2013 Van Cliburn winner while I was in the midst of this book.)

Lina's mother was Russian; her father was Spanish; she tended to identify with the Russian side due to a grandmother.  The parents were actor/singer types of mediocre stature; ended up in U.S. to do performances, so Lina mostly grew up here, mostly in NY.  She aspired to be a singer - nice soprano voice but not quite enough.  Family was well-connected in Russian emigre circles.  She meets the talented Serge Prokofiev - somewhat struggling to break through notwithstanding his talent - and fell in love with him.  Serge seemed to behave mostly like a jerk throughout; she follows him to Europe; he finally agrees to marry after a number of years (once she's pregnant).

1930s - for propaganda purposes, Stalin wants Russian artists to come home (many had fled in aftermath of Bolshevik revolution) - Serge and Lina are enticed to return with promises of special treatment, honors, artistic freedom, etc.  Misgivings; they are tailed while in Paris during this time; but Serge felt the opportunity would be better in the Soviet Union, especially based on a Potemkin tour, I'll call it, arranged while they were considering their decision.

Once there - not possible to defect.  Some relatively good times early and they did live with special privileges; this fluctuates as Serge moves in and out of favor; Lina's singing career doesn't take off though they do perform together some; she is suspect to the authorities because of friendships with foreigners via embassies.  Tense, difficult, quite unimaginable.

Serge falls in love with a younger woman; is evacuated from Moscow as Hitler invades; Lina left behind to cope, with their two sons.  She was able to get excused after a day or so from the amazing tasks performed by the citizen teams digging tank traps on Moscow periphery - in favor of a desk job - but endured the bombing and food shortages (all as discussed here).  After the war - she's sent to the gulag for a 10-year sentence (or a "tenner" as these were called in Solzhenitsyn's book).  Just an amazing story, and she must have been a really tough individual.  Eventually released after Stalin dies.

Sad and sad.  Compelling throughout.  What folks like this lived through = just unbelievable.